Human Proofreading vs. Grammarly Online

Proofreading is necessary when you are writing an article or essay, drafting an important document, or working on a research paper. For this type of grammar check, you have two different options. One is to use automated software, such as using Grammarly online. These tools rely on algorithms to control the proofreading. The other option is an online proofreading service, where a human will go over your work and make corrections and suggestions.

Here is a comparison of these two popular online proofreading options.

Grammarly Proofreading

The Grammarly proofreading service is an automated essay checker and corrector. It underlines errors in your document and makes suggestions for how to correct them. The user can either accept or reject the Grammarly proofreading suggestions. In addition to catching spelling and verb tense errors, Grammarly can function as a sentence structure checker.

How Does Grammarly Compare to a Professional Proofreader?

Grammarly is fully automated. Unlike an online essay proofreader, it cannot make any allowances for different subject matter or tone. Furthermore, its algorithms are not foolproof. A recent case study showed that Grammarly only caught 72% of the errors in a test document. Others have shown that Grammarly often overlooks context and tone.

Furthermore, automated essay corrector and checker tools often miss common mistakes, such as the inconsistent use of verb tenses, and they do not catch repetitive sentence structure unless it fits a very specific pattern. The algorithms also miss spelling mistakes related to context (such as mixing up the verb "affect" and the noun "effect").

A professional grammar check by a human can catch and fix the errors in a document while also making allowances for context and other issues. For grade-dependent school essays or other important documents, Grammarly's 72% correction rate isn't going to be good enough. To do your best, a human proofreader is needed. 

Professional Online Proofreading – Why Choose a Human Editor?

Professional online proofreading services can offer more than Grammarly. Not only do human editors avoid the simple mistakes that trick an automated paragraph checker, but they can make other suggestions as well. For example, a professional grammar check expert can offer suggestions about tone, word choice, and sentence structure. Furthermore, an online proofreader service editor can offer more in-depth insights that are beyond the scope of software. For example, a human proofreading professional can help with "big picture" issues like paragraph structure, essay layout, sources, and overall organization. 

Automated proofreading tools especially struggle with more complex writing, such as academic essays and research papers. A pro editor, on the other hand, will understand the context in which your writing will be read. They can make suggestions related to that specific context rather than just offering general corrections and generic advice that may or may not be helpful. 

Where to Find an Online Proofreading Professional

Though Grammarly may be helpful for casual writing, such as emails, it isn't effective enough to trust with important essays, articles, or papers. An online proofreading professional and editor can catch 100% of your grammar errors and provide insights about context, organization, and paragraph layout. If you need a grammar check professional, you can start your search at Editor World's Proofreading and Editing Services page. Contact us for any of your editing or proofreading needs.